Jaisalmer: In many villages of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts, Muslims celebrate Diwali and sing bhajans. Worship of Lord Ganesh is a practice some Muslims share with their Hindu neighbours. Now, in the holy month of Ramzan, many Hindus are keeping the roza (fast) too.

Besides keeping the roza, many Hindus have been taking part in the namaz prayers, five times a day. There is no one who remembers how it came to be this way.

After Partition, many Hindu families arrived here from Sindh which is now in Pakistan. There is much cultural exchange between the two communities in the villages in the border districts, and it is hard for the outsider to tell Hindu from Muslim by observing cuisine or attire or language.

Dr Megharam Gadhveer of Gohad Ka Tala village in Barmer says, "We celebrate each other's festivals and we've been sharing each other's joys and sorrows. After Partition and also after the wars with Pakistan, the families that have moved here from Pakistan have come to share all our rituals. Many Meghwals also feel great devotion for Peer Pithoro, whose dargah is in Sindh."

Shankara Ram, who is on the Ramzan fast, told TOI, "All those who are followers of Peer Pithoro keep a fast at this time, during the month of Ramzan. The practice is prevalent in many villages -- Godhad Ka Tala, Rabasar, Sata, Sinhania, Bakhasar, Kelnore. The Saiyeed Kasam dargah at Gohad Ka Tala sees many Muslim and Hindu devotees. Our traditions are similar. The little children keep roza too, so it is all just something that is done as a matter of course."

Langa Mangniar Gaji Khan Banna, renowned for his music, said, "We start our musical sessions with praise for Lord Ganesh. We do that even if we happen to be performing in a foreign country. Manganiars are Muslim, but we sing in the weddings and other functions of the Hindus."

Muslim girl goes to stay with Christian family in Indonesia to defeat ignorance

JUNE 18, 2016

"The first time I met them, I was so afraid because I was afraid of people of other religions," says Apipa, a young Muslim girl who was sent to stay with a Christian family in Indonesia.

Apipa's stay was part of an exchange project created by an Indonesian social work group called Sabang Merauke.

In the video of Apipa and her host family's experience together, Apipa says she initially regretted the stay in the first few days, because she was afraid her hosts would drag her to church.

Eventually, both sides warmed to each other, and tore down their mutual misconceptions.

"Tolerance should not just be spoken of but also felt," says Apipa.

One of the founders of Sabang Merauke, Ayu Kartika, is a Muslim former primary school teacher. She told Mashable the group's aim is to bring kids from across Indonesia to stay with families in the capital of Jakarta.

Kartika said she was prompted to choose religion as a focal point because of the year she spent teaching in the remote Bacan Island in Indonesia's North Maluku region.

There, villagers were separated into Christian and Muslim camps by the government after a riot broke out a decade prior.

The hatred from her camp toward the other side, despite not having any interactions, prompted her to set up the non-profit in order to battle the ignorance she witnessed.

The charity is funded by government, corporate and private donations. They sponsor the students' stays in Jakarta of around three weeks each, and have so far identified 15 students this year for its programme.

The destroyed military base was where Saudi army's Division 115 was stationed.

Early reports indicate large casualties on the Saudi forces in the missile attack. The Saudi army and its coalition members have lost, at least, over a hundred troops each time they have come under a ballistic missile attack by Yemen.

The Yemeni missile attacks usually come in retaliation to the Saudi-led forces' attacks on the civilians in different parts of Yemen.

Last week, Yemeni commanders revealed that the UN move to take off the name of Saudi Arabia from the list of violators of children's rights has emboldened Riyadh to intensify its attacks against Yemen.

"The Saudi fighter jets are still launching strikes against the innocent Yemeni people as the UN excluded the name of Saudi Arabia from the blacklist of violators of children's rights," Khamis Zahir al-Hamdani, a Yemeni military commander, told FNA.

Saudi Arabia has been waging a war on Yemen since late March 2015 in a bid to reinstate Mansour Hadi and undermine the Ansarullah movement, which took over state matters after Hadi resigned.

Over 9,800 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.

Yemenis, in return, have been carrying out retaliatory attacks on the pro-Saudi forces deployed in the country as well as targets inside Saudi Arabia.

This is while UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon announced that Saudi Arabia will be removed, pending investigation, from a blacklist it was on for its role in killing children in the Yemen war, prompting blackmail speculation.

Ban has since as good as confirmed the Saudis subjected him to extortion and condemned them for going too far, while stories have circulated they blackmailed him and threatened to pull funding for a raft of humanitarian programs.

Ban complained of "unacceptable" and "undue pressure" to take the Saudis off a blacklist for killing children.

en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000452

--------

India

Harmony prevails: Hindus observe Ramzan in these Rajasthan villages

Vimal Bhatia | TNN | Jun 19, 2016

Jaisalmer: In many villages of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts, Muslims celebrate Diwali and sing bhajans. Worship of Lord Ganesh is a practice some Muslims share with their Hindu neighbours. Now, in the holy month of Ramzan, many Hindus are keeping the roza (fast) too.

Besides keeping the roza, many Hindus have been taking part in the namaz prayers, five times a day. There is no one who remembers how it came to be this way.

After Partition, many Hindu families arrived here from Sindh which is now in Pakistan. There is much cultural exchange between the two communities in the villages in the border districts, and it is hard for the outsider to tell Hindu from Muslim by observing cuisine or attire or language.

New Delhi: The second-in-command of Islamic State's India unit Junood-al Khalifa-al-Hind, Rizwan Ahmed alias Khalid, is undergoing intense questioning by National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is trying to elicit details of the outfit's recruits and unravel their terror plot, besides getting to know about all those who travelled to IS territory in Iraq and Syria.

Associated with the IS since 2015, 19-year-old Rizwan, a resident of Kushi Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was in direct touch with Yousuf-Al Hindi, code name for Shafi Armar, the alleged co-founder of the India arm of IS. Rizwan travelled across the country to meet other senior members of the outfit - Muddabir Sheikh, Nafees Khan and Zarar - and propagate its agenda of jihad.

AHMEDABAD: The purpose of setting up an inquiry panel to find the missing files related to the encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan was not to implicate anyone but to recover the documents, home minister Rajnath Singh said amid the controversy over the officer conducting the probe having allegedly tutored a witness.

"The inquiry committee was set up not to implicate anyone but to find the missing files," he told PTI here, amidst allegations that the NDA government set up the panel to find faults in the previous UPA government.

JAMMU: The Jammu & Kashmir government on Saturday expressed apprehension that Pakistan and its sympathizers might try to disrupt the upcoming annual Amarnath Yatra that starts from July 2.

"Pakistan, anti-national elements and terrorists would not like this (Amarnath) yatra to go on smoothly. They will definitely try to create disturbances but we are prepared and have taken all the aspects into consideration. The Army and other security agencies have be put on high alert," deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh told reporters after holding a high-level meeting to review law and order situation in Jammu region.

Singh said the elements behind the desecration of two temples in Jammu city may try to vitiate the atmosphere and cautioned people to remain vigilant as "such incidents could happen in future as well."

Unknown gunmen have abducted at least 4 people including two education officials in central Ghor province of Afghanistan.

According to the local government officials, the incident took place on Saturday as they were on their way to the central city of Ghor.

An official in the provincial education directorate cofirmed the incident and said it is yet not clear if the civilians have been abducted by the Taliban militants or gunmen belonging to any insurgents group.

The anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban insurgents have not commented regarding the report so far.

This comes as the Taliban militants have increased hostage takings in the country during the recent months, specifically in northern provinces.

The Taliban insurgents kidnapped at least 185 passengers as they were traveling in an highway in Kunduz province late in May.

The group released majority of the hostages after interrogating them and killed several others on charges of working for the government.

Taliban militants abducted nearly 50 more passengers as they were travelling in Kunduz-Takhar highway earlier this month.

The Afghan Air Force (AAF) received five new combat helicopters from the United States on Friday amid ongoing efforts to boost the air power of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).

The new helicopters are MD-530 CAyuse Warrior helicopters and were transported to Hamid Karzai International Airport on Friday.

“These five latest (MD-530s) have the capability to fire rockets or .50-caliber machine guns and sighting systems that aren’t on the previously-delivered helicopters,” said Lt. Col. Bill Ashford, 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron commander quoted in a report published by Dvidshub said.

Lt. Ashford further added “We are also getting kits to modify the existing 13 to be able to support guns and rockets, but these five will be the first with both capabilities in service here.”

Indonesia's second biggest Muslim organization has thrown its voice behind Turkish and other international efforts to create a unified Islamic calendar to determine that religious days and festivals fall globally at the same time.

Muhammadiyah said Wednesday that the absence of a single lunar calendar has left Indonesia -- the world's second most populous Muslim country -- celebrating important Islamic days at different times.

Mohammed Salim, a Rohingya man in a refugee camp in Aceh Province, Indonesia. Mr. Mohammed, 24, was aboard a crowded fishing boat that journalists found adrift last year in the Andaman Sea. Credit Kemal Jufri for The New York Times

BAYEUN, Indonesia — When Mohammed Salim washed ashore on the coast of Aceh Province in Indonesia during the Southeast Asian refugee crisis last year, he was hungry, thirsty, emaciated and exhausted.

The destroyed military base was where Saudi army's Division 115 was stationed.

Early reports indicate large casualties on the Saudi forces in the missile attack. The Saudi army and its coalition members have lost, at least, over a hundred troops each time they have come under a ballistic missile attack by Yemen.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000452

--------

Syria: Hezbollah's Fresh Forces Arrive in Deir Ezzur

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement has dispatched a large number of its experienced fighters to Deir Ezzur to help the Syrian Army troops and its popular allies end ISIL's siege on the Eastern city, provincial sources said.

"Hezbollah has sent its first group of elite fighters to the military airport in Deir Ezzur province," the sources said.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000589

--------

US-backed forces advance against Islamic State in Syria

Jun 19, 2016

BEIRUT/AMMAN: US-backed Syrian forces edged closer to an Islamic State stronghold on the border with Turkey on Saturday while Russia's defence minister visited President Bashar al Assad to discuss military operations.

The visit came only hours after the Syrian army and its Iranian-backed militias, which have been supported by Russian air power, lost several villages to Islamist rebels as they made significant advances in the countryside south of Aleppo.

Egypt's former president Mohamed Morsi was handed another life sentence on June 18, after a court found him guilty of espionage and leaking state secrets.

Morsi, leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, has already been sentenced in three other cases, including the death penalty for a mass jail break during the 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak and a life sentence for spying on behalf of Palestinian group Hamas.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued their advances against the terrorists of ISIL in the Eastern side of the town of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo, killing over 20 militants and wounding several more, battlefield sources said Sunday.

"The region between the villages of Yaseteh and Ein al-Nakhil, three kilometers to the East of Manbij, is the scene of tough battle between the SDF fighters and the ISIL militants, which has thus far claimed the lives of 22 terrorists," the sources said, adding, "The SDF fighter have also seized a large volume of arms and ammunition."

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000661

--------

Commander: Iranian Navy to Unveil New Destroyers, Submarines This Year

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced plans to unveil new destroyers and submarines in the current Iranian year (started on March 20).

"We hope to unveil new destroyers and submarines this year," Sayyari told FNA on Sunday.

Elsewhere, he referred to the presence of Iran's 41st fleet of warships in international waters, and said, "Special Naval Operation teams have been deployed in the Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea and now security is established in the Gulf of Aden for the ships supported by us."

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000330

--------

Syrian Army Engages in Heavy Fighting with Al-Nusra Terrorists in Dara'a

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Army troops continued to hunt the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front's members in the Southern districts of Dara'a city, military sources said, adding that the army also inflicted major damage on the militants' sites.

"The Syrian soldiers stormed al-Nusra's positions in the neighborhood of al-Kark in Dara'a al-Balad in the Southern part of Dara'a city, which ended in the killing of several militants and destroyed their military hardware, including their mortar units," the sources said, adding, "Military vehicles of al-Nusra sustained major damage in the Syrian army's attacks on the Takfiri terrorists' positions in the Southern side of al-Jamarek al-Qadim neighborhood in Dara'a al-Balad."

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000441

--------

Syria: Terrorists Fail to Break Through Gov't Positions North of Damascus

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Terrorist groups failed in their attacks on the Syrian army checkpoints along Damascus-Homs highway on Sunday.

The Syrian army men repelled the terrorists' attacks and captured the entire members of the group in al-Quteifeh region after several of them suffered major injuries in clashes with the army.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000501

--------

ISIL Offensive Repulsed by Syrian Soldiers in Central Hama

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian military forces repelled ISIL's attacks on the government forces' strongholds near the city of al-Salamiyah, and forced the militants to retreat from the battlefield under heavy fire.

The Syrian soldiers fended off the ISIL assaults on the pro-government forces' defense lines near the village of al-Mefaker in the Eastern side of al-Salamiyah, which claimed the lives of several militants and destroyed their vehicles carrying weapons and ammunition.

The ISIL left behind its military equipment and fled the battlefield.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000394

--------

Aleppo: Syrian Democratic Forces Win back Main Square West of Manbij

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Battlefield sources announced minutes ago that after hours of non-stop battle the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pushed the ISIL back from a strategic square at the Western entrance of the town of Manbij.

"The SDF fighters continued to beat the ISIL back from more position along the road connecting Manbij to Aleppo and captured al-Ketab square, which inflicted major casualties on the terrorists," the sources said, adding, "Intense battle in now underway in the Western entrance of the town."

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000551

--------

Syrian Air Force Pounds ISIL Positions near Deir Ezzur City

June 19th, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian fighter jets, in a fresh round of combat sorties, bombed the ISIL strongholds in the Western and Southern sides of Deir Ezzur airport, inflicting a heavy death toll on the militants, battlefield sources said.

"The ISIL defense lines near Deir Ezzur airport were massively targeted by the Syrian army aircraft," the sources said, adding, "Several Takfiri terrorists were killed or wounded and their military hardware was damaged in the air raids."

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950330000292

--------

Africa

Boko Haram kill 24 at funeral in northeastern Nigeria

AFP | Jun 17, 2016

KANO (Nigeria): Twenty-four people were killed when Boko Haram fighters opened fire on mourners, a local community leader said on Friday, in the second attack in northeast Nigeria this week after a relative lull.

The attack happened at about 8:00 PM in Kuda village near the town of Gulak, in Adamawa state, according to Maina Ularamu, a former local government chairman in nearby Madagali.

AMRITSAR: While fighting their own battle against forced conversions and persecution by Muslim fundamentalists, Pakistan's Hindu community has thrown its minuscule weight behind Kalash people, the largest minority group of Pakistan living in Hindu Kush range of Afghanistan's Chitral district which borders Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, after a Kalash girl was forcibly converted to Islam.

Talking to TOI over phone from Karachi on Friday, patron in chief, Pakistan Hind Council (PHC) and Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani informed that 'Kalash Incident' had raised a serious question mark on the safety of minority communities in Pakistan.

GHALANAI: A landmine went off in Baizai tehsil here on Saturday, injuring three young boys, security sources said.

The landmine was planted by unknown persons at a place used by the people for taking rest underneath trees in Atmar Khel area.

Security sources identified the victims as Arif Khan, 18, Noor Ullah, 10, and his brother Abdullah, 11, who were playing when the blast struck. The injured were shifted to a Peshawar hospital for treatment. One of the injured was stated to be in critical condition.

After the incident, political administration with the help of levies and khasadar men conducted a search operation in the adjoining areas and arrested five suspects and shifted them to political lockup in Bahi Daag area.

KARACHI: A Pakistani actor has been banned from hosting a popular Ramazan TV show by the country's media regulator for allegedly violating its "code of conduct" by promoting controversial religious and sectarian views.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said it banned Hamza Ali Abbasi from hosting the show after receiving numerous complaints from viewers over the show's controversial content which it claimed violated the media regulator's "code of conduct."

Abbasi surprised the Pakistani audience by speaking against the oppression of the minority Ahmadis on his show Ishq-e-Ramazan.

Abbasi also promised to have open discussions on his show on the country's controversial blasphemy laws and the government's decision to declare the minority Qadiani sect as non-Muslims.

KARACHI: Iranian Presi­dent Hassan Rouhani on Saturday called Nawaz Sharif and expressed the hope that the prime minister would recover soon from his heart surgery.

“I’m so happy that you are recovering well after a successful surgery,” Mr Rouhani was quoted by IRNA news agency as saying during the telephonic conversation.

According to analysts, the conversation between the two leaders will help bilateral relations take a turn for the better, after irritants like the signing of a couple of Indo-Iranian agreements and disclosure that an Indian spy was operating freely from Iran had adversely affected them.

Talking to Mr Sharif, the Iranian president described Pakistan as a brotherly country and said bilateral ties were improving by the day due to the premier’s wisdom.

dawn.com/news/1265831/rouhani-wishes-sharif-well-after-surgery

--------

Torkham border reopened after diplomatic push

June 19th, 2016

ISLAMABAD / LANDI KOTAL: The diplomatic push to end the Pak-Afghan row over the construction of a border gate bore fruit on Saturday when Pakistan reopened the Torkham border crossing for traffic a week after skirmishes forced the closure.

The Torkham border crossing was reopened after a meeting of the border officials at what was described by the Foreign Office as the ‘zero line’.

“Dua was offered and gates were opened,” FO spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in an update on the morning meeting, adding that “vehicular traffic was in progress”.

COAS discusses border management with head of Nato’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan at GHQ

KARACHI: Senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar on Saturday claimed that four of his party MPAs including Kamran Farooqui, for whose arrest his house was cordoned off, "were suddenly declared wanted".

In an interview with DawnNews, Sattar said that four of his party's MPAs were "suddenly declared wanted after the emergence of a group in Khayaban-i-Sehar", and out of these four MQM has only been informed about Kamran Farooqui's name on the list.

Radiohead fans assaulted in Istanbul for ‘drinking alcohol’ during Ramadan

June/18/2016

A group of 20 assailants carrying sticks and bottles attacked a record store in central Istanbul on June 17, beating up store owners and Radiohead fans who were at a listening party of the band’s new album, A Moon Shaped Pool.

Radiohead fans at the Velvet IndieGround record store, owned by South Korean man Seogu Lee, were listening to music and drinking alcohol when a group of men burst into the store and confronted them.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to reconstruct the historic Taksim military barracks in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, a project that sparked country-wide anti-government protests in 2013.

“One of the subjects that we have to be brave about is Gezi Park in Taksim. I am saying once again: We will construct that historic building there,” Erdoğan said on June 18, speaking at an event in Istanbul.

Manbij operation having real success due to cooperation with Turkey: Blinken

June/18/2016

Manbij operation having real success due to cooperation with Turkey: Blinken

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the Manbij operation, which is being carried out in Syria with the support of the international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group, was having real success due to cooperation with Turkey.

Turkey has returned a report by the European Parliament, which included the harshest criticisms of Ankara voiced by Brussels in recent years, deeming it “unacceptable.”

The report, prepared by Kati Piri, the rapporteur for Turkey at the European Parliament, was returned by Turkey’s EU Permanent Representative Ambassador Selim Yenel without being put into any process.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was criticized for “backsliding” on democracy and the rule of law in the report, which was approved by 375 votes against 133 in the European Parliament on April 14.

Turkey has condemned the life sentence issued to former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi just two days after Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said there could be “no permanent enmities between countries encircling the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.”

“We condemn and express our concerns over the life sentence issued for Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president who has been imprisoned since 2013. We are of the belief that this verdict will not contribute to Egypt’s comfort and stability,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on June 19.

BRUSSELS: Belgian police arrested 12 suspects in a major anti-terror operation overnight amid security alerts in Belgium and France around the Euro 2016 soccer tournament and just three months after Islamist bombers wrought carnage in Brussels.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Charles Michel said the government’s security council — which includes the ministers of defence, justice, home affairs and foreign affairs — would hold a meeting.

“In connection with a criminal investigation concerning terrorism ... 40 persons were taken for questioning. Twelve among them were arrested,” the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.